Hawker Fare: Stories & Recipes from a Refugee Chef's Isan Thai & Lao Roots

James Syhabout, John Birdsall

Michelin star Chef James Syhabout’s first cookbook is real, down-to-earth, and pays homage to his Isan Thai and Lao heritage and street-eats restaurant, Hawker Fare, in San Francisco. 98 pages of mouth-watering, colorful recipes highlighting Asian immigrant ingredients like shrimp paste, pork blood, rice congee.

Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes

Peter Meehan

Compiled and condensed from Lucky Peach are 101 easy, drool-worthy Asian recipes full of bold flavors. While not strictly boasting their authenticity, this compilation of innovative recipes like Miso Clam Chowder, Sichuan Pork Ragu, and Lamburgers will get your friends marveling at your culinary worldliness. Show off.

Seoul Food Korean Cookbook: Korean Cooking from Kimchi and Bibimbap to Fried Chicken and Bingsoo

Naomi Imatome-Yun

Ever wonder what Korean cuisine looks like beyond kimchi, bbq, and bibimbaps? Chef Naomi Imatome-Yun brings us 135 recipes healthy recipes with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten friendly variations from her culture and childhood. Learn everything about Korean culture, history, dining etiquette, and table manners.

Momofuku

David Chang and Peter Meehan

If you haven’t jumped on Chef David Chang’s Momofuku yet, now is the time. A New York Times bestseller with over 200,000 copies in print, Momofuku is truly the gold standard cookbook for any foodie.

Learn how to make everything from the classics (like a mind-blowing 3 ingredient Pork Belly) to the superstar Momofuku recipes (yes, we’re talking about those mouthwatering Momofuku-style Pork Buns).

China: The Cookbook

Kei Lum Chan, Diora Fong Chan

China: The Cookbook is one of those rare gems being the most comprehensive Chinese-specific cookbook of all time filled with a whopping 695 recipes. Each page details everything from ingredients to origins and techniques for each diverse, province-specific Chinese dish throughout China. If that doesn’t convince you, how about the best dessert recipe ever on making your own warm, fresh-out-the-oven Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts?

Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand

Andy Ricker, JJ Goode

Pok Pok, the sound of a pestle gently pounding a papaya in a mortar, is a Portland based restaurant famed for its true, authentic Thai cooking- not the kind that we have taken for granted, but Thai like how it tastes in Thailand. The details and authentic photos make this the perfect cookbook for those wanting to level up their knowledge of spices and challenge those hard-to-use ingredients like the sawtooth herb, puya chilies, and pork blood.

Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans

Michelle Tam, Henry Fong

Authors Michelle Tam and Henry Fong brings another visual feast in Nom Nom Paleo with 100+ Paleo friendly, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, Asian-inspired recipes. You’ll find ultra easy, Asian comfort recipes like Walnut Prawns and innovative fusion healthy Asian snacks like Eggplant “Ricotta” Stacks, all with a side of adorable Nom Nom style comic illustrations and butt jokes. Yes, you read that right, butt jokes.

Burma Superstar: Addictive Recipes from the Crossroads of Southeast Asia

Desmond Tan, Kate Leahy

Burma Superstar is a beloved Bay Area restaurant specializing in addictively rich and umami blend of Myanmar, Thai, and Laos cuisines. Their cookbook brings you all their iconic dishes like the refreshing Tea Leaf Salad, Platha, and Mohinga. Every page is stunningly photographed and is sprinkled with essays offering insights of their culture and food.

Bowl: Vegetarian Recipes for Ramen, Pho, Bibimbap, Dumplings, and Other One-Dish Meals

Lucas Vulgar

Is it us or do almost all delicious things come in bowls? Bowl starts with a basic intro and jumps straight into a hearty, umami bowl of ramen. Flip through each beautifully photographed recipe and you’ll find a diverse array of ingredients to create any recipe bowl-ievable in a range of complexity. Each one-dish recipe is brilliantly versatile in catering to both meat lovers and vegetarians.  

Beyond Curry Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through India

Denise D'silva Sankhé

Transport yourself to the streets of India with Denise as she shares her detailed knowledge of Indian cuisine, spices, and convenient pressure cooker methods to making a healthy fuss-free meal. Each recipe page has a little map that shows which region the recipe originated from along with spice levels and unique tidbits culinary influences from that region.

The Pho Cookbook

Andrea Nguyen

The Pho Cookbook is the only pho cookbook you’ll ever need- pho real. The book itself is a journey through the history of pho starting at the beginning from explaining ingredients and techniques to selecting the best bones and cuts of meats to create the deep, umami flavor you get at restaurants. The perfect culinary journey for any chef hungry to read up on history, culture, and all things related to pho.

The Adobo Road Cookbook: A Filipino Food Journey-From Food Blog, to Food Truck, and Beyond

Marvin Gapultos

Spicy Sizzling Sisig, Slow-Braised Pork Belly and Pineapple Adobo, Sweet Corn and Coconut Milk Panna Cotta, and do we really need to say anymore to convince you The Adobo Road is the only Filipino cookbook you will ever need? All 100 of Marvin’s recipes come directly from his traditional Filipino roots, straight from his own grandmother, mother, and aunties. These tried and true recipes are all delicious and will be the best guide to the bold, deeply satisfying flavors of Filipino cooking.

101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die: Discover a New World of Flavors in Authentic Recipes

Jet Tila 

Cutthroat Kitchen judge, Jet Tila, spills his knowledge in one of the Top 10 Cookbooks of 2017 by the LA Times. You’ll find everything from the classics like Drunken Noodles to special, kid-friendly recipes like Korean BBQ Short Ribs on Coke. Our favorite? Hands down our choice will have to be Jet’s Mango Sticky Rice.
 

Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More from the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond

Tadashi Ono

Can you name any Japanese foods beyond sushi, ramen, tempura, bento, and gyoza? Japanese Soul Cooking is a little treasure of everyday Japanese comfort foods you’d find in pubs, at family restaurants, and street vendors. Fall in love with all the varieties of Japanese curry (there’s a recipe for Battleship Curry), learn about a million ways to serve udon, and try some killer easy recipes like crab meat omelette with shiitake mushrooms. Tadashi Ono’s friendly picture step-by-step  instructions and stories make you feel like you’re dining throughout Japan, without really being there.

Hey There, Dumpling!: 100 Recipes for Dumplings, Buns, Noodles, and Other Asian Treats

Kenny lao

Kenny Lao compiles 30 years of dumpling wrapping experience in homes, food trucks, and restaurants across America all into a graphic step-by-step recipe cookbook. Join in on the dumpling party 101 and learn about the differences between a good wrapper and optimal dumpling shapes. You’ll be inspired to make your own signature dumplings in no time!